


With Liberty and Great Justice

by The_Fenspace_Collective



Category: Fenspace
Genre: Fenspace - Freeform, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-06-04
Updated: 2007-06-04
Packaged: 2018-01-01 03:02:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1039578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Fenspace_Collective/pseuds/The_Fenspace_Collective





	With Liberty and Great Justice

**February 26, 2013**   
**11:01 GMT**   
_**Stellvia** _

"Commander, a representative of the new tenant wants to speak with you directly... Commander?" Noah wasn't listening. He'd been lost in thought for a few hours.

After a moment, the visitor got tired of waiting. "Damn it, Noah, pay attention to your own crew!"

"Wha... Katz? When did you get here?"

"Two minutes ago. I thought I'd be able to say hello when I picked up the keys, but you're in no shape to be sociable. What's wrong?"

After a moment, Noah replied, "Nothing, really."

"All right, I won't pry. But I want a favor in return."

"If it doesn't interfere with Operation Great Justice, sure. Hell, even if it _does_ \- Yayoi and I still owe you for your help at the SOS-con last year."

"I'll let the specialist tell you what she needs, then. She's waiting just outside."

"All right..." Noah walked over and opened the door to main control, and discovered someone familiar waiting to see him.

"Hello, Mr. Scott."

"Leda! Er... Ms. Swansen, please, come in... no, it would be better if we spoke in the conference room. We haven't shielded all of the computers in here yet."

Katz cleared his throat. "Are you two going to need a chaperone?"

Noah and Leda both blushed. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?" asked the Senshi.

  
**11:17 GMT**

"... so, you're part of the _Kobayashi Maru_ project."

Leda shook her head. "Not really; I'm just along because N is part of the crew. As her geneticist, I need to work with her if what the slavers did to her isn't to get passed along to her children. If she has any children."

"That was really low, even for a boskonian. I'm glad you're trying to give her a normal life, though."

"Normal? There's no way anyone trapped in that slave pen will ever be normal again, Noah."

"Yeah... bad choice of words on my part."

Leda looked up from her notes. "You usually watch what you say better that that. What's wrong?"

Noah sighed. "Oh, I don't know... Yes, I do know. I'm having second thoughts."

"About the _Kobayashi Maru_ project, or leasing space to Above and Beyond or the SEBureau?"

"No, that's only part of it. I'm having second thoughts about all of Operation Great Justice."

"From what I hear, Ms. Suzumiya wouldn't like it if she heard you say that."

"So what? Everybody treats Haruhi as if she's some kind of incarnate god or something. I've worked with her, and I know she puts her spacesuit on one leg at a time, just like the rest of us mere mortals. And this is _my_ station, not hers. What _I_ say goes, here." Noah sighed deeply. "Why doesn't anyone remember that any more?"

Leda reached for Noah's hand, but stopped before she took it in her own; she wasn't wearing her insulated gloves. "Is she meddling in how you run the station?" When Noah nodded, Leda went on. "Then let her know that you don't appreciate that. I'm sure she'll be reasonable."

"You don't know her very well."

"Oh. But we both know that Operation Great Justice is doing a lot of good, Noah. Just last month, you all helped evacuate Crystal Osaka before it crashed. You saved my life, and the lives of a lot of other people."

Noah frowned. "Yes, but if we hadn't been hunting zwilnicks, that firefight in Crystal Osaka would never have happened. You'd still have a place to live."

"And hundreds of people, maybe thousands, would still be getting addicted to thionite. What's one small town compared to that?"

"Even though it was your home town that was destroyed."

"Even though it was my home town that was destroyed, yes."

"How can you be so... blasé about all the destruction?"

Leda's voice was steady. "Because we all know that it's serving a greater good."

  
**11:20 GMT**

"Sir? Is everything alright?"

Katz didn't really startle, but the voice did catch him by surprise. _You know, there may be something to people not liking me popping out of the woodwork on them when they least expect it._ N was apparently very good at that as well.

And she had a habit of formalizing otherwise simple things, which was likely some sort of defense mechanism, but that was rather beside the point in the here and now.

"Yeah, everything's okay. How does our space look, by the by?"

"It suits the needs we have of it. Construction of the main hull and the mockup is proceeding on schedule," she informed him.

He nodded. "I'll go give it a look-over, then. You're still on a free until the targeting gets put together, you know."

"I know."

_Right, of course you do. Well, there really was no helping it if N wanted to go above and beyond the call of duty ... and boy, was that a strange turn of phrase to twist itself through my mind without even a hint of mocking._

In any case, as his walked towards the dry-dock, his mind wandered back ...

_Never, ever leave when they think you're about to. You never know what you might overhear._

_Yes, I think we've stated my paranoia somewhere before. It's not a problem, it's a survival trait._

_And maybe I was overreacting badly, but Swansen's ending comment had been like a huge red warning light given the context._

_Hell, even taken out of context._

_Call me cynical, but even mentioning "the greater good" was enough to get me on edge. Always had been, always would be._

Katz stepped past a bulkhead, and into a spacious bay with a half-finished hull hanging in the middle of it, all the while wondering who and when to bribe to get his hands on the Good Doctor's psychological profile.

  
**17:01 GMT**

"... and I've talked to the people from Above and Beyond about their request for laboratory space. It's going to be awkward, but I think we can squeeze them in somewhere in the secure section."

"Thank you, Yoriko. Is there anything else?"

"That's it for the daily operational report, Noah. But everybody I've talked to today said you were distracted. What's wrong?"

Noah sighed. "Lately, I've been wondering whether we've been doing the right thing with Operation Great Justice."

"What, in supporting it? We signed off on the SOS-con articles, so we don't have very much choice. We have to support Operation Great Justice."

"No, I'm wondering whether we were right to start OGJ in the first place."

"Uh-huh. I was wondering when you were going to realize that."

Noah looked at Yoriko in amazement. "Are you saying _you_ think Great Justice is a mistake?"

"Yep."

"How long have you felt that way?"

"Ever since I voted against it at SOS-con." Yoriko sat down, and gestured to Noah to sit beside her. "When you programmed me, you gave me a police officer's instincts and a wide-ranging curiosity. That combination's lead me to study the history of police activity."

"All right, but what does that have to do with OGJ?"

"Bear with me, darling. Back in the 1980s, the US government started a 'War on Drugs' - they tried to get rid of the drug problem once and for all. But whenever they broke up a drug ring, another one popped up to take its place. They couldn't succeed, because they went about it the wrong way."

"That's old news to me, Yoriko. I lived through that time."

"Yes, I know. So you should realize what's happening now. When we started Operation Great Justice, we effectively declared a 'War on Crime.' Sure, it didn't start that way; there were a couple of threats that _had_ to be addressed, and we've taken care of those threats. But we're using that as an excuse to go after every criminal we can find."

"We have to do something about the reavers, though."

 _"You_ taught me this one, Noah: 'we have to do something; this is something; therefore we have to do this' is _not_ valid logic. Killing off reavers wherever and whenever they appear isn't going to eliminate piracy, any more than it did on the Spanish Main. As long as there's profit in it, there's _always_ going to be another reaver. Or another slaver, or another zwilnick."

"And Great Justice will go chugging along as long as reavers keep showing up. But what can we do?"

Yoriko frowned. "As long as nobody's willing to tell Haruhi that she's wrong, there isn't a lot we _can_ do. But what we _should_ do is make piracy unprofitable as a matter of course."

The doorbell chimed, then the door opened and Yayoi poked her head in. "Dinner's ready!"

"We'll be right there," replied Noah as he and Yoriko stood up.

Yoriko grabbed his arm. "Promise me you'll at least mention the matter to Haruhi at the meeting Thursday morning."

"All right. It's worth a try, I suppose."

  
**February 28, 2013**   
**10:17 GMT**   
**The _Epsilon Blade_**

"Damn her... Try to raise an objection to her ideas, and she treats you as if you aren't there!"

Yayoi looked at Noah. "But she remembered you were in the room when she wanted someone to run a package to the Island. There's plenty to keep us busy back on _Stellvia;_ why didn't you say no?"

"Because I had to get away from everyone before I started shouting at them. No, that's not right. I had to get away from _Haruhi_ before I started yelling at _her."_

"And that would have been bad for morale."

"Morale has nothing to do with it - it would have frozen us out of any further decision-making. If we're going to have any chance to put Yoriko's idea into action, we have to be able to propose the plan, at the least. Yoriko _did_ tell you about our discussion, didn't she?"

"While you were busy with the TSAB yesterday, yes." Yayoi put the ship on autopilot and turned to Noah. "And I don't think Yoriko went far enough on Tuesday. I don't have very much experience with war; if it wasn't for Great Justice, I'd just have what's in the story you based me on, and that wasn't very much. But it _was_ ultimately pointless. Why are we fighting a war to preserve peace, Noah?"

"That's a very Japanese question, Yayoi."

She just stared at him for a moment.

"Yes, you _do_ have a very Japanese personality. Right. Of course. Sorry about that. As to why we're fighting for peace, sometimes we have to use overwhelming violence to get people to stop using violence."

"In other words, might makes right. Isn't that how the boskonians live? If we use their methods, how are we any better than them?"

Noah thought for a moment. "Damned if I know, Yayoi..."

  
**March 2, 2013**   
**18:23 GMT**   
**The _Kobayashi Maru_**

";I wanted to get your take on this, is all," Noah said thought the screen of the commo, which in this case consisted of an old PDA, a cooling fan, and scotch tape. "On what the point is."

Katz considered it for not long at all."

Well, with OGJ it _is_ a war you've been fighting, so I don't really know how to help you there. Not exactly my area of expertise."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Noah asked after a moment. "You got in on the ground floor, same as I did, if I recall correctly."

"Did I? Mm ... I suppose that'd have been what it looked like at the time," Katz shrugged. "But, consider ... in war you always fight against a larger force, not individuals. Against a concept, a phenomenon. In this case, call them boskonians, reavers, whatever. At some point, it's always impersonal, and I don't do impersonal. I don't do war."

"Then what _do_ you do?"

"Vendetta."

  
**May 16, 2013**   
**09:14 GMT**   
_**Stellvia** _

"Noah? Are you all right?"

"No, I'm not all right, Yorkio. That b... Haruhi just fired me. After everything I've done for her and her group!"

"She fired you? Why?"

"Because she's a primma donna who can't stand dissent," Noah snarled. "I'll bet somebody who I talked to in the last few months about OGJ said something to her, and she took it personally."

"Or she may have read the discussion on fen.current-events.disc. I think your name came up on that group yesterday."

"You know I don't have time to read the discussion groups any more. Why didn't you say something?"

Yoriko blushed. "We were busy ..."

"... running errands for Haruhi," finished Noah. "Well, now I've got time to read the group. This leak isn't so bad, but I'd better let the people there know that they might be telling important secrets to the wrong people. Oh, Yoriko ..."

"Yes?"

"Double-check the exact wording of the arrangement we have with those ... with the SOS-dan. I want to know whether I'm remembering it correctly."

As Yoriko left to review the contract in question, Noah settled in for a session of reading the newsgroups.

* * *

From: Wire_Geek (Wiregeek@hephaestus.fen)  
To: nttp://fen.current-events.disc  
Subject: Politics, Government, Drugs, Really Wild Things.  
Date Posted: May 17th, 2013

Ladies and Gentlebeings, and the rest of the Fen populace, I find myself concerned and alarmed.

I am not a political animal. If I can't build something, hit something, or eat something, there's really one major use that I can put something to, and I've never hear anyone recommend the Reavers for that in a _serious_ manner.

However, bad sex puns aside, I'm not a very politically aware person. I write these rambling missives because I read the Ender series too damn many times. I think there's a little bit of Locke or Demosthenesin all of us, yearning to shape the sociopolitical atmosphere or just look smart.

And up here, we bring the atmosphere with us in a VERY big way. Smart comes with the territory, with the flipside being dead.

To digress from my digression, I've been hearing rumblings and rumors against the personage of Haruhi, specifically against her tyrannical management style and lack of 'personal touch'. The rumblings then express displeasure at the eponymous Operation For Great Justice, comparing the case of Thionite to the pre-Launch case of Prohibition, or the American folly of the War On Drugs.

There are, indeed, some similarities, and they provide us with a simple example, in the case of Prohibition, and a current example, in the War On Drugs, of what we can do wrong. However, there are many differences as well. The armed conflict between the drug cartels and the populace never escalated as brutally on Earth as it did here in space. Really, it's the nature of the place - there is no half-way in space battles.

The assorted abductions and slavery, genetic mutilation, tortures and various atrocities we can lay at the feet of the Boskonians are another major difference between Now and Then. The Colombian drug cartels may have traded in sex slaves, true, but they were still at least recognizably human if they were recovered..

Thus we come to my first point, one I have thought long and hard about before stating.

**The Boskonians are bad people, period, and must be stopped.**

Boskonian Redemption, while a nice idea, is not plausible in anything more than an individual scale. Ask what's left of the kids from Hogwarts - there is such a thing as Unforgiveables.

And on to the drugs in question. At the beginning of the twentieth century, we saw the rise of Crystal Meth, displacing all other drugs in the earthly illicit drug market as the most detrimental and destructive substance available. Still, it doesn't even begin to compare to Thionite. A single dose of Thionite is powerful enough to be addictive, in the face of all but the most absolutely powerful and focussed willpower - and even then, it's iffy. There is no known counter, there is no known palliative or counteragent, there is no protection.

I can think of no other drug, save perhaps LSD, that has military applications. Which leads me inexorably to my second point, which is problematic in execution, but I feel, necessary.

**Thionite must be eliminated, Thionite use must be stopped**

Yeah, the actual execution of that is left up to the reader.

 

An astute reader, perhaps one with the mythical patience of Job, will have noticed that I opened with mention of Miss Suzumiya, and have not returned to that subject.

I agree in essence with the concerns regarding her leadership style, it is authoritarian and tyrannical, and she does not take advice which is not immediately relevant to her interests and/or supportive of her plans.

Save for one factor, I would be more than willing to see her deposed, and some other poor fool cast into that role.

That factor being - she's almost always right.

Name three major strategic or tactical decisions that have come down from Haruhi that have worked out badly, or caused unnecessary loss of life?

Yeah.

We're riding a tiger, sure, but the tiger's going where we need to go, and I, for one, am not ready to get off yet.

Yours in discord. Wiregeek.

* * *

From: Capn_Corcoran (J_Corcoran@pinafore.fen)  
To: nttp://fen.current-events.disc  
Subject: re: Politics, Government, Drugs, Really Wild Things.  
Date Posted: May 17th, 2013

Salutations.

In these troublesome times it behooves us to take the leaders we are given. Much like my _nom du guerre's_ origin, I seem to serve under a Queen with a fractious Admiralty.

Admittedly there is more of a meritocracy under Suzumiya rather than the oligarchy under Victoria. This is partly a good thing. Naval commanders such as Brevet-Admiral Dodge would never have gotten anywhere near the popular support if he had remained in, to utilize the vernacular, the 'Danelaw.

That said, my esteemed colleague is correct. Extreme opposition calls for extreme measures. Several of the former students of Hogwarts passed through my sick bay bfore transit to the more developed hospitals of Kandor, Crystal Hiroshima, and the newly-constructed Crichton Memorial in Canberra, Australia, Terra.

My crew was, for a long time, unique amongst the population of the biomodded fen, having their physiognomies altered to the whim of scurrilous knaves and ne'er-do-wells. Sadly, the sight of twenty-seven near identical catgirls cowering in filthy rags that were once Hogwarts robes struck a chord of rage in my chest.

Especially since I had believed the EXACT technology had been excised from the memepool root-and-branch when I'd rescued my crew in the first place.

This is something truly frightening. The so-called Boskonians have managed to _reverse engineer_ a biomod. Something we who work with handwavium regularly have thought to be impossible. Further details may be acquired through secure channels in three days, when my paper on the subject is "published" via Great Justice's think tank net.

Yours dutifully, Captain J. Corcoran, _SS Pinafore Joint Space Defence_

* * *

From: An Anonymous Analyst (fenfront@cia.gov)  
To: nttp://fen.current-events.disc  
Subject: Re: Politics, Government, Drugs, Really Wild Things.  
Date Posted: May 18th, 2013

>> To digress from my digression, I've been hearing rumblings  
>> and rumors against the personage of Haruhi, specifically  
>> against her tyrannical management style and lack of  
>> 'personal touch'. The rumblings then express displeasure at  
>> the eponymous Operation For Great Justice, comparing the  
>> case of Thionite to the pre-Launch case of Prohibition, or  
>> the American folly of the War On Drugs.

> And however different other elements may be, this is the  
> same: change the economics and the rest will crumble.

Let's get one thing straight, here, folks: This was never about the money.

Thionite is -too- addictive; the first time the FBI got a whiff of it it had their full attention. By the time OGJ kicked off the machinery was in full swing. Despite everything its pushers can do, despite the lowest street price of _anything_ comperable, its market share in the Danelaw is small. Too many shipments get blocked or intercepted - supply gets interrupted, desperate customers turn on their (they think) uncooperative dealers... and people on the street -know- this. Its properties are no secret, and for every guy whose brains are too roasted to figure out it applies to him, too, or who's just too desperate for a way out to care, there are three or four who'd do another drug that won't touch this one.

The biggest selling point for the cartels was always the economic condition of the neighborhoods where they did their business. That's changing a lot slower and a lot less in America than in other parts of the world, but it's changing nontheless, and these folks -know it-. Drugs just aren't as attractive an option as they were ten years ago.

So the Reavers aren't making nearly the kind of cash you'd expect from the scale of their operations.

And... _Everything they make, they spend_. Every dime. Trust me, folks, no one in the office can believe it either, but we've traced it straight through the laundry.

And what they're doing with it is -scary-. Tanks, planes, guns, mercenaries... and the logistical support to operate all of same; it's all being bought up and vanishing from the face of the Earth. I know a lot of y'all at the sharp end are feeling like you're trying to hold back the tide, but, much's I hate to say it: It's worse than that. Even at the most conservative numbers for this side of their operations, the Reavers' spaceside troops can't represent more than a third of their overall numbers.

A -third-.

For now, even that's not so bad. The 'Danelaw's version of professional military has kicked the crap out of the Reavers every time they've tangled to date, and the US alone has more men under arms than even our worst-case estimates of the bad guys. But that'll change: it has to, either when we find that break we've been looking for to track them back to their holes or when -they- decide they're ready for... whatever. I'm sure you can speculate as well as I can.

Scared yet? See where I'm leading? One more tidbit before I get to the point.

So far these clowns have tested their new biomod tricks on noncombatants. But, if they can do -this-, how likely is it that they -can't- do something far more alarming? The idea of facing down a Draka or a Zoanoid or, hell, even just Bebop and Rocksteady scares the -crap- out of me, and if these guys can do it once, we -know- they can do it for -their entire army-.

But it's worse than that. These people have done something with the 'wave that none of us believed possible - overridden one of its apparently basic properties.

What if they do it again? For a different property?

...Yeah. Exactly. Bang bang.

Aren't you glad you're one of the people on the sharp end of OGJ, rather than some guy living safe with no idea what to do when the walls come down? I know I am.

  
>> That factor being - she's almost always right.

The fact that our most accurate prophet of future events is self-evidently -batshit crazy- does not do wonders for my confidence in the state of the universe.

OTOH, at least she's hot.

Yours, AAA

  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
"Five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates! Well there ain't no time to wonder why: Whoopee! We're all gonna die!"

* * *

From: Haruhi (taichou@sosdan.fen  
To: nttp://fen.current-events.dixc  
Subject: Insolent Peons  
Date Posted: May 18th, 2013

> We're riding a tiger, sure, but the tiger's going where we  
> need to go, and I, for one, am not ready to get off yet.

Grr. Rawr.

But seriously, you people would be much better off if you'd just realize that I'm always right and stop fighting it.

But that'd make you boring, wouldn't it? Either way, AAA's right about the current plotline... and do you really think that a universe cool enough to produce handwavium is going to let us go without a sequel? Please. The rest of that stuff is just behind-the-scenes material. Sure, it matters, even I'll admit that, but it's not the reason things happen.

> OTOH, at least she's hot.

Of course I am.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
"FOR GREAT JUSTICE!"

* * *

From: blackstone@bbi.org  
To: nttp://fen.current-events.dixc  
Subject: Re: Insolent Peons  
Date Posted: 05.18.13

BBI>But seriously, you people would be much better off if  
BBI>you'd just realize that I'm always right and stop fighting it.

Because we're fen, darling. We exist not as a unified front, but as a mob of individuals each striding towards Enlightenment at our own pace, listening to our own iPods of Truth. And as you said, we wouldn't be anywhere near as interesting.

Frankly, it doesn't seem to be the why of it that bothers many, but the how of it. History is not bunk, despite Mr. Ford's assertions. Some of us are merely concerned about repeating the mistakes of the past.

That being said, I don't think that Great Justice isn't worthwhile. It provides a powerful foundation for work against the thionite and slavery markets. This sort of evil needs to be combatted. However, other avenues should be investigated and experimented with. Who knows what back doors may be left open because of the Enemy's focus on Great Justice? It'd be a shame not to take advantage of them. Remember: "All warfare is based on deception."

Blackstone Blue Blazer Irregular #14

"The World is a very big place, and it doesn't stop at the Sky" - B. Banzai, M.D., Ph.D.

* * *

From: Col. Mal Fnord, USSRAF (23@globalfrequency.fen)  
To: nttp://fen.current-events.disc  
Bcc: smof-politics@smofcon.fen  
Subject: re: Politics, Government, Drugs, Really Wild Things.  
Date Posted: May 18th, 2013

Ladies and gentlefen.

I wish to address this point made by our friendly neighborhood Company man:

> And what they're doing with it is -scary-. Tanks, planes, guns, mercenaries...  
> and the logistical support to operate all of same; it's all being bought up and  
> vanishing from the face of the Earth. I know a lot of y'all at the sharp end are  
> feeling like you're trying to hold back the tide, but, much's I hate to say it:  
> It's worse than that. Even at the most conservative numbers for this side of  
> their operations, the Reavers' spaceside troops can't represent more than a third  
> of their overall numbers.

My own analysis of the pattern suggests that there are two tracks here. The first track is mostly low-level stuff; Jesse James wannabes running around trying to knock over mining stations, minor piracy, the sort of thing that's tragic on an individual level but to the overall picture... well, that's life on the frontier for you. The other track is something completely different: large, well-coordinated attacks on major fen installations or well-defended spacecraft. The attacks on Hidden Asteroid and SSX patrols just before SOS-Con, the big raids on Hogwarts and the Browncoat farming domes on Callisto, the destruction of Crystal Osaka. These things are not part of the background, they're something else. And yet, those of us working OGJ are spending more time busting individual zwilniks than we are trying to locate and eliminate the spider at the center of this web.

In short: **We're being played.** And I am *beyond* pissed about it.

We need to split our efforts, create an *actual* Patrol that can handle the minor zwilniks and the small-time operators found on any frontier so the big guns like Katz, Geek, Corcoran and I can openly pursue the Boskonians without having to try and play "take a bite out of crime." Instead of bringing down hellfire on every dumb bastard that crosses our sights, we need to be able to measured response to situations; what we've got going on in OGJ right now ain't that.

Which brings me to the subject of leadership. Wiregeek would like three instances of Comrade Suzumiya's tactical decisions where they went wrong. On 17 July 2012, again on 23 July 2012 and again on 06 August 2012, the Comrade Supreme Commander sent my ship to hit targets in the Jovian and Saturnian Trojans, with no forward intelligence on the target or on defenses, and without sufficient... actually, without *any* fire support from our forward bases in the Main Belt. In all three instances, the targets escaped without damage, and my crew and I barely escaped from squadron-strength ambushes laid in by Boskone. Since 06 Aug 12 the Soviet Air Force has not obeyed any direct combat order coming from HQ; not without subjecting it to our own internal analysis. I no longer trust Comrade Suzumiya's judgement when it comes to tactical decisions, and will continue not to trust her judgement as long as she remains safely hidden away on Stellvia surrounded by her sycophants. I honestly don't care if her intelligence comes straight from Almighty God and all the saints; I will *not* put my people at needless risk just to satisfy her vicarious need for mayhem.

If she doesn't like that, she can come out to the lines and *learn.*

\--Not Nathan Fillion

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
Fen of the Solar System, unite!  
The Soviet Air Force is now hiring Pilot-Cosmonauts and support crew:  
<http://www.sovietairforce.fen/>

* * *

From: Bob Schroeck (rms@our_town.fen)  
To: nttp://fen.current-events.disc  
Bcc: smof-politics@smofcon.fen  
Subject: re: Politics, Government, Drugs, Really Wild Things.  
Date Posted: May 18th, 2013

We here at the Corners are new to Fenspace, but we're not ignorant -- we'd been watching the feeds from Above for more than two years before we launched, just trying to suss out the culture we were going to inject ourselves into. So we're not standing around blinking stupidly as war breaks out around us. Some of us are ex-military, and at least one of us has held the kind of clearance that gets you into _those_ rooms at Certain Government Agencies*. (No, I'm not telling you which of us. But you can safely rule out my five-year-old daughter.) We can read the lines and between them, and filter out the noise.

So understand when I say that we knew what we were getting into when we lifted the Corners. It wasn't what we intended when we started the project, but it's what we realized we would be doing when we got to the end.

So, as this morning's duly elected representative of the Grover's Corners, speaking the majority will of the folks that live here, I am formally announcing that we are offering the use of our cubic as a full-out base for Operation Great Justice. (This isn't just altruism, mind you -- we have no real defenses. We're sitting ducks if the Black Hats want us for a base. And they'd have to be crazy not to. I'd rather not be a catgirl, thank you, no matter how good certain elements around here think I'd look.)

If you folks at OGJ Command would like to discuss this offer, we're available 24 hours a day. I'll try to make sure Luna isn't the one answering the phone.

\-- Bob

* <blinks innocently> The lobby bathroom at the EPA, of course. What did you think I meant?  
\----------------  
Outer space is no place for a person of breeding. -- Lady Violet Bonham Carter

* * *

  
**May 18, 2013**   
**11:47 GMT**   
_**Stellvia** _

Noah looked at the discussion thread on the screen, and wondered how far out of his control his doubts had gotten. He hadn't intended anything like this when he started talking to people ten weeks ago.

 _Time to make a couple of things clear,_ he thought as he started typing a reply, _or at least as clear as anything as muddy as politics ever gets._

* * *

From: Noah Scott (big-cheese@stellvia.lib)  
To: nttp://fen.current-events.disc  
Subject: Re: Politics, Government, Drugs, Really Wild Things.  
Date Posted: May 18th, 2013

  
Now that I have time to read the groups again, I see that I can't escape from the war even here. Not that I expected to.

>>>> To digress from my digression, I've been hearing rumblings and  
>>>> rumors against the personage of Haruhi, specifically against her  
>>>> tyrannical management style and lack of 'personal touch'.

Oh, I could tell you stories... but I won't, because I'm still pissed off about how she broke off our working arrangement - I'm not objective about the SOS-dan right now.

(Yes, she told me to leave and never come back. On my own station, no less. She _really_ doesn't like it when someone disagrees with her. For proof, note her own post, titled "Insolent Peons".

And if I'd known she called people whose lives she holds in her hands "peons", I would have quit before I was fired.)

Besides, I don't want to burn any more bridges that I have to, especially not when we need to hang together.

  
>>>> **The Boskonians are bad people, period, and must be stopped.**

No argument there. Now tell me **how**. Keep in mind that every time we break up a group by force, another one pops up to take its place.

And remember also that "Boskonian" isn't the same as "Zwilnick". When I voted for Great Justice a year ago, we were worried about piracy and slaving in the Belt. Remember what happened to the Hidden Asteroid patrols in early 2012? Remember how sick we all felt when we saw the photos? Remember the righteous anger we felt toward the scum that could do that to those poor teenagers? Remember what we swore to do to the bastards? _**That**_ was the Operation Great Justice that I signed up for, by all that's holy!

(Excuse me a moment... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Okay, I'm back.)

But that group's dead and gone now, and their victims can go on with what's left of their lives, or rest in peace. The Ninjas are stronger than ever, and nobody messes with them any more. (Yes, I know the Boskonians are targeting the Wizards now...) Nowadays - or, at least, as of three weeks ago - we spend most of our time on simple-if-messy police work; vital work, to be sure, but not something for an _ad hoc_ group like Great Justice to be carrying out.

  
>>>> Name three major strategic or tactical decisions that have come  
>>>> down from Haruhi that have worked out badly, or caused unnecessary  
>>>> loss of life?  
>>>>  
>>>> Yeah.

The fact that we're even talking about "strategic or tactical decisions", let alone so casually, shows something about us. And it's something I'm not sure I like.

I remember when I first came into space, five years ago. People laughed at me for including a _single_ defensive turret in my station, because they thought I'd never have a need to shoot at anybody except maybe the 'danes. I remember Kandor-con, when Kohran made a mistake and everybody found out about kaboomite, and as a result my group became social pariahs for two years. "How _dare_ they commit the sin of carrying out weapon research?" was one of the milder comments on the groups and mailing lists at the time.

Now people come to _Stellvia_ for shore leave - yes, _shore leave_ \- because it's the best-defended station between Earth and the Island. (Not counting the closed ones like the TSAB's _Benjamin Franklin_ or the Warsies' _New Yavin_ , of course.)

What the hell's _**happened**_ to us in the last year, people? Are you all turning into me, while I'm turning into you?

(Oh, and I'm _still_ not telling anyone what kaboomite is. You can't afford to make it anyway.)

(And I'm not going to deny access to _Stellvia_ to anyone involved in Great Justice, either, despite what the rumor mill says. I may be upset about being pushed off the general staff, but I'm not stupid; we still have friends in the front lines.)

  
>> In short: **We're being played**. And I am *beyond* pissed about it.

I have to agree with Comrade Fnord, here. I also have to wonder who's playing us.

That comment I made earlier, about not wanting to burn any more bridges that I have to? Screw it. I've already said I'm not objective here, but who besides the SOS-dan has the ability to play all of us?

And did anyone know anything about the SOS-dan before the SOS-con?

It _would_ explain why Ms. Suzumiya doesn't tolerate dissent.

If I'm reading the evidence wrong, then I'll apologize - _after_ she bloody well explains herself on this forum.

  
>> We need to split our efforts, create an *actual* Patrol that can  
>> handle the minor zwilniks and the small-time operators found on any  
>> frontier so the big guns like Katz, Geek, Corcoran and I can openly  
>> pursue the Boskonians without having to try and play "take a bite  
>> out of crime." Instead of bringing down hellfire on every dumb  
>> bastard that crosses our sights, we need to be able to measured  
>> response to situations; what we've got going on in OGJ right now  
>> ain't that.

Like I said, this is not something for an _ad hoc_ group like Great Justice to be carrying out.

If we want to formalize the Patrol, and start training its members and paying for it to be run as a real police force - or a real navy, if that's what people want instead - I can't see any way to avoid also having real government to oversee it. Assuming we don't want Fenspace to become a police state or a military dictatorship, that is. No more "conventions once a year"; oversight is a 24x7 deal.

We'll also have to collect taxes to pay for it - I can provide seed money, but even my bank account can't keep the Patrol running forever. That's another reason to have a more active government.

  
>> I no longer trust Comrade Suzumiya's judgement when it comes to  
>> tactical decisions, and will continue not to trust her judgement as  
>> long as she remains safely hidden away on Stellvia surrounded by  
>> her sycophants.

Actually, when she fired me, she broke our lease agreement. The SOS-dan will be leaving _Stellvia_ as soon as they're ready to move in somewhere else ...

> So, as this morning's duly elected representative of the Grover's  
> Corners, speaking the majority will of the folks that live here, I  
> am formally announcing that we are offering the use of our cubic as  
> a full-out base for Operation Great Justice.

... which _Grover's Corners_ has just made available.

They'd best leave by the end of next week, as we're going to be depressuring the compartment they're in soon after that. Standard decontamination procedure, you know.

  
Now, for something completely different:

>>> This is something truly frightening. The so-called Boskonians have  
>>> managed to _reverse engineer_ a biomod. Something we who work with  
>>> handwavium regularly have thought to be impossible. Further details  
>>> may be acquired through secure channels in three days, when my paper  
>>> on the subject is "published" via Great Justice's think tank net.

If we're lucky, they've only figured out how to reliably make _one_ biomod. If we're not lucky, they've figured out how to reliably make _any biomod they want_. Either way, we _**have to**_ learn what they know - it might be the key to reversing biomods, and I'm sure we all know someone with an unwanted biomod.

If the SOS-dan aren't willing to bankroll whatever activities it takes to get that information into the common database, then I'll pay for the data out of my own pocket... but _I_ might decide to keep it for myself. "Everybody knows" what I'm like, after all.

(How would some of the Ninjas like to make use of their "l33t ninja skillz," and get the person with the reputation of hating them the most into their debt?)

Either way, I really hope that the data comes out to "they were lucky, and they can't really do this". But I'm not holding my breath.

\--  
Noah Scott, of station _Stellvia_

"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding."  
\- Justice Louis Brandeis, Olmstead v. U.S., 277 U.S. 438 (1928)

* * *

  
 _Well,_ Noah thought as he pressed Send, _that pretty much destroys any hope I had of getting back into the policy discussions..._

It didn't take long for the replys to start coming in - not all addressed to Noah - mixed in with the continuing discussion.

* * *

From: Col. Mal Fnord, USSRAF (23@globalfrequency.fen)  
To: Noah Scott (big-cheese@stellvia.lib)  
Subj: I'd like to say you're wrong, but...  
Date Posted: May 19, 2013

Noah:

First of all, I want you to know that whatever happens next, I've got your back.

Secondly, if you're feeling any guilt over having set this firestorm off, *drop it.* Seriously, comrade. This situation was untenable to begin with; we knew it back at SOS-Con, even if we pretended otherwise. Now is not the time to wallow in self-doubt, we're still under the sword of Damocles and now is the time to *organize.* (Me & Joe Hill, to the bitter end.)

To that end, we need to keep the OGJ core as intact as we can (minus Suzumiya, of course) and refocused on the serious targets. It doesn't need to be a proper "governmental" body, all we need is government *sanction.* The charter passed at SOS-Con gives us that leeway, since all the factions and a majority of the undeclareds voted for it. We can set ourselves up as a NGO or a metanational body like the Blue Blazers, only less diffuse.

What we need now is organization. Divide duties like I said on the group; most of the work going to keeping the peace on the frontier while the heavy guns go towards hunting down & eliminating Boskone. I've got a few ideas on command & control structure, but nothing concrete. Money & resources are a problem... in terms of raw material goods, if we staked a claim on one of the larger asteroids and mined it to death, that'd take care of our supply of metal and organics for decades. Paying for training - or just salaries! - is trickier. Have to think about that one.

Still not sold on the idea that we need a Fenspace-wide government to handle this, or that we need give up our newly-forged traditions in the face of expediency. If you think I'm full of it, convince me.

On the subject of the game (or maybe it's the Great Game? The ghost of Kipling rules us even in this enlightened century...) we still can't even see the *board,* much less the other players. In all honesty, though, I *don't* think it's Suzumiya who's playing us. Whoever's running Boskone is playing a very long & deep game. Suzumiya, from the very little time I spent working with her directly, is about as deep as a dry puddle. Unless it's an *extremely* clever disguise, which I sort of doubt.

No, our mystery player is someone with access to men, money and materiel that are just as good as the major factions. Corcoran's message suggests they've got some serious firepower in the wave engineering department, too. That says to me 'Danelaw, authorized or not. And *that* is something we have *got* to get on top of ASAP, the rantings of a spoiled brat aside.

(Speaking of Corcoran, if he or SOS-dan won't release his findings to the public, I've no problem with trying to steal 'em from him if push comes to shove. But you didn't hear that from me.)

Okay, ramble over. If you feel a need to rant at somebody who isn't part of your crew, feel free to phone me; I'll be in Kandor for the next couple of weeks.

\--Mal

PS: If you can spare the time, there'll be a small symposium on spider hunting in the back room of the Paragon City Saloon on the 22nd, starting at 1300. Mr. Schrodinger will be joining us. You might find it... informative.

PPS: I know what kaboomite is, but that's only because I'm the guy hired to repair the damage Kohran did extracting the main ingredient in the first place. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me.

* * *

From: An Anonymous Analyst (fenfront@cia.gov)  
To: nttp://fen.current-events.disc  
Subject: Re: re: Politics, Government, Drugs, Really Wild Things  
Date Posted: May 18th, 2013

> These things are not part of the background, they're  
> something else. And yet, those of us working OGJ are  
> spending more time busting individual zwilniks than we are  
> trying to locate and eliminate the spider at the center of  
> this web.

These two courses of action are hardly what I'd call mutually exclusive, especially since my own sources indicate that these two courses you're tracking are the same people. I've forwarded the details to you (with an aside on the three dates you mentioned) by secure channels - for public consumption, I'm authorized to say that the money trails and the ship IDs both point at a single organization doing two things. Catch one, you have your hooks into the other.

Are there other courses being worked? From this side and from yours? Oh, yes. But, honestly, the only reason I'm saying that much is because it's self-evident to anyone who thinks to look for it. Where, how, and who is... well, sorry, but You Don't Need To Know.

And that brings us to this:

> We're being played.

 _No shit, Sherlock!_ That's why they call it a game. Everyone plays everyone else. The questions are 'Who are they' and 'What are their victory conditions?'

> We need to split our efforts, create an *actual* Patrol that  
> can handle the minor zwilniks and the small-time  
> operators found on any frontier so the big guns like Katz,  
> Geek, Corcoran and I can openly pursue the Boskonians  
> without having to try and play "take a bite out of crime."  
> Instead of bringing down hellfire on every dumb bastard  
> that crosses our sights, we need to be able to measured  
> response to situations; what we've got going on in OGJ  
> right now ain't that.

If you think you can find them, be my guest. If you're smart, though, you'll stop assuming you can outsneak the pros.

Yeah, right now, we're swinging at shadows and they're hitting where they please, and that sucks. It's not the way to win the war. But until the other avenues being worked behind the scenes play out, the only other options -I- can see are to sit on our keisters doing nothing or to break ourselves up into even smaller penny-packets to be picked off at leisure.

At least this way they have to work at it.

There's one other thing Great Justice is good for, though: Y'all on the Ptichka might've known what you were about in a fight before this started, but I'll guarantee that even most of the others on the first string wouldn't have known more than where to start. It's an ugly, ugly price to pay for that experience, yeah, but...

Welcome to the high-stakes table, folks. Ante up.

Yours, AAA

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
"Five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates! Well there ain't no time to wonder why: Whoopee! We're all gonna die!"

* * *

From: J.A. Helscher (badmoon@starkfistofhistory.fen)  
To: nttp://fen.current-events.disc  
Bcc: smof-politics@smofcon.fen  
Subject: re: Politics, Government, Drugs, Really Wild Things.  
Date Posted: May 19th, 2013

I've been uncharacteristically quiet on these topics, as a lot of you may have noticed, because as a historian I don't really have the right to muck about in the politics and the decision making process. I'm an analyst, and my job is to comment after everything is said and done. A lot of you may think this is not only cop out, but the kind of stuffy headed Dane arrogance that we all left Earth for. And it probably is, but it's still my job. I had two crew members resign over the _Truth's_ non-involvement in OGJ and believe me if I struggled with it before they left, I won't mention how I felt after. So I can only really say this: The unwavering eye of History is watching us. And it will render its judgment without remorse. I use my sig for a reason.

One other thing though.

>But seriously, you people would be much better off if you'd just realize that I'm always right and stop fighting it.

Shit like this chills me to the bone in ways that spoken language cannot adequately convey.

-Bad Moon out

 _Historians peel back the veil of time, and make fun of people when they screw up_  
\---------------  
-Jon

* * *

From: Ninja Banker (morden-johnson@st-bernie.fen)  
To: nttp://fen.current-events.disc  
Bcc: smof-politics@smofcon.fen  
Subject: Pointing Fingers  
Date Posted: May 19th, 2013

Firstly, with regard to anyone who's been suggesting I'm playing LOGOS behind the Blue Cosmos of the Boskonians and/or Zwiliniks (and thanks to those who aren't getting all paranoid), the idiots who tried to board the Saint Bernard are currently in the front half of their ship in a slow orbit of the Moon. Anyone who wants to pick them up is welcome to 'em, but the Bernie refuses to go within a coupla hundred klicks of 'em and I can't say I blame her. The _rear_ half of their ship is currently occupying a corner of the New Newport News field, if anyone wants to stick a new cabin on it then make me an offer.

More seriously, I'm not making any profit off backing OGJ guys, fact is the time away from wheeling and dealing has had a serious impact on my bottomline. As far as I'm concerned, as soon as the job is done I'll be offski to greener pastures. I _can_ confirm what's been said about the Boskonians - they aren't making any profit either, it's all being reinvested.

Secondly, Haruhi. While I'm making this an open message, it's aimed at you, so here goes.

Fenspace operates as a consensus. You have precisely as much authority as you are given and no more. If everyone retracts your Mod privileges over OGJ then you're gonna be out in the cold. And backbiting at people who've followed you this far isn't leading from the front, which is about the only thing I've ever seen that works.

So, while it's up to Noah what he does, it'd be kind of nice to see a public apology or an explanation to him, or even confirmation of privately delivered versions. None of us are _tokhe straav_ that I'm aware of.

Right, sermon's over. Anyone who's heading out to the Belt from Venus in the next couple of days, I've got a couple of packages to deliver to the Red Dwarf and I'm offering the usual rates.

TMKAM  
\-----------------------------------------------------  
my lifes no less confusing now then it had been before  
I cannot tell whos with me, or against me, anymore

* * *

From: Noah Scott (big-cheese@stellvia.lib) To: Col. Mal Fnord, USSRAF (23@globalfrequency.fen) Subject: Re: I'd like to say you're wrong, but... Date Posted: May 19, 2013

> First of all, I want you to know that whatever happens next, I've got your back.

Thanks, Mal. Coming from you, that means a hell of a lot.

> Secondly, if you're feeling any guilt over having set this firestorm off, *drop it.*

I don't feel guilt about it; what I feel is a sense of awe and wonder that people take my ramblings seriously. I wonder what would happen if I tried going into politics full-time... no, I've got a station to run.

  
> Money & resources are a problem... in terms of raw material goods, if we staked a claim on one of the larger asteroids and mined it to death, that'd take care of our supply of metal and organics for decades.

We'll need some way to refine the ores we pull out of that asteroid, and Wiregeek's posts make him look like he's firmly in Suzumiya's camp. Maybe we can work a deal with one of the Mercury smelting companies...?

> Paying for training - or just salaries! - is trickier. Have to think about that one.

Like I said on the public channel, I can provide seed money. But that'll only last for a couple of weeks - maybe a month if I raid _Stellvia's_ operating funds.

> Still not sold on the idea that we need a Fenspace-wide government to handle this, or that we need give up our newly-forged traditions in the face of expediency. If you think I'm full of it, convince me.

Somebody's going to have to pay for it all... and I doubt that "taxation without representation" will go over any better in Fenspace than it did in the Thirteen Colonies.

If we can come up with a way to pay for it that doesn't involve taxation, then we've got clear ether. But I can't see a way to do that. Yet.

  
> Whoever's running Boskone is playing a very long & deep game. Suzumiya, from the very little time I spent working with her directly, is about as deep as a dry puddle.

I can't argue with that... <g> But that doesn't eliminate the possibility that somebody else in the SOS-dan is playing her and us for fools. Who else? Damned if I know.

> No, our mystery player is someone with access to men, money and materiel that are just as good as the major factions. Corcoran's message suggests they've got some serious firepower in the wave engineering department, too. That says to me 'Danelaw, authorized or not. And *that* is something we have *got* to get on top of ASAP, the rantings of a spoiled brat aside.

Which means we need Ninja who know what they're doing, or some other "sneaky agents" who can get into and out of secure facilities.

(Ninja. Why did it have to be Ninja?)

  
> PS: If you can spare the time, there'll be a small symposium on spider hunting in the back room of the Paragon City Saloon on the 22nd, starting at 1300. Mr. Schrodinger will be joining us. You might find it... informative.

You know, it's been over fourteen months since I last had a vacation... I think I'll mention that on the public forum, and announce I'm taking a week off to play tourist. See you Wednesday.

> PPS: I know what kaboomite is, but that's only because I'm the guy hired to repair the damage Kohran did extracting the main ingredient in the first place. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me.

I _knew_ Kohran got back from that scavenging trip too quickly... (She was _supposed_ to clean up after herself. I hope she paid you well.) Okay, in the highly-unlikely event that we find any fissionables on that asteroid we claim, I call "dibs".

\--Noah

* * *

From: Wire_Geek (Wiregeek@hephaestus.fen)  
To: nttp://fen.current-events.disc  
Subject: Politics, Government, Drugs, Really Wild Things.  
Date Posted: May 19th, 2013

> On 17 July 2012, again on 23 July 2012 and again on 06 August 2012 ...no  
> forward intelligence on the target or on defenses ...without *any* fire  
> support from our forward bases in the Main Belt ...targets escaped  
> without damage ...crew and I barely escaped from squadron-strength  
> ambushes laid in by Boskone.

I was.. not aware of this.

Let me restate, I'm not a political animal. This is the way we've got, you've got better?

show me.

I'm not a leader, damnit, but I do want a solution to this Boskone problem!

  
> From: Haruhi (taichou@sosdan.fen  
> ...  
> Subject: Insolent Peons

Insolent, yes.. but I am not a peon. And I will slap the stupid out of you if I am forced to.

  
In conclusion.. any of you have a better idea? I'll push the damn bus, I just need someone in the driver's seat.

Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

* * *

From: Col. Mal Fnord, USSRAF (23@globalfrequency.fen)  
To: Noah Scott (big-cheese@stellvia.lib)  
Subj: Re: I'd like to say you're wrong, but...  
Date Posted: May 19, 2013

> I don't feel guilt about it; what I feel is a sense of awe and wonder  
> that people take my ramblings seriously. I wonder what would happen if  
> I tried going into politics full-time... no, I've got a station to run.

Might be hard to accept, but as long as you're running the system's equivalent of Nagasaki you're one of the big wheels. Suck it up and move along.

> We'll need some way to refine the ores we pull out of that asteroid,  
> and Wiregeek's posts make him look like he's firmly in Suzumiya's camp.  
> Maybe we can work a deal with one of the Mercury smelting companies...?

Maybe, or there are some refining outfits in Port Luna we could talk to - lots of alumninum mining going on in the general area. There are also... other options, but I don't want to tip my hand too quickly.

> Somebody's going to have to pay for it all... and I doubt that  
> "taxation without representation" will go over any better in Fenspace  
> than it did in the Thirteen Colonies.

I think you're using the wrong model here. Remember, we've got several perfectly good governments already up and running. The Trekkies, Warsies, Senshi, Wizards & Browncoats all at least have functional representatve governments *plus* taxation schemes of their own. The amount of coin they're bringing in isn't that much, but with enough persuasion their combined contributions might be enough to keep things afloat.

Think UN Peacekeepers, only with the teeth the SOS-Con charter gave OGJ. And if we can produce concrete results, we can keep the funding rolling in.

> I can't argue with that... <g> But that doesn't eliminate the possibility  
> that somebody else in the SOS-dan is playing her and us for fools. Who  
> else? Damned if I know.

That's a good point. What *do* we know about the rest of the SOS-dan?

> Which means we need Ninja who know what they're doing, or some other "sneaky  
> agents" who can get into and out of secure facilities.

Not ninja. The local flavor is too heavily media-influenced, and media ninja are the exact opposite of subtle. No, what we need is a covert ops squad. Thankfully, Suzumiya has delivered unto us the perfect *vehicle* for such an endeavour.

(Speaking of spooks, do you or anybody on your crew have a line on who's behind AAA? I'm leery of foreign intel people being "helpful" on open channels, that sort of thing can't possibly end well for our fair land.)

> I knew Kohran got back from that scavenging trip too quickly... (She was  
> supposed to clean up after herself. I hope she paid you well.)

*snort* She should've checked to make sure the damn thing's transmitter had failed before cracking open the powerplant. Told the client it was a micrometeor impact & did the replacement, no big thing.

\--Mal

* * *

From: Vulpine_Fury (LJG@kandor.fen)  
To: nttp://fen.current-events.disc  
Subject: Corcoran's Catgirl Commentary  
Date Posted: May 20th, 2013

Here's a link for those of you with friendly relations to B.A.B.S. [Bottle-city Artificial Batgirl Simulator: We love you, Oracle!] Linkage

If our AI clears your system you can get an uncensored edition of our favorite Anglophile's latest project, and BOY is it a doozy.

Complete state-of-the-kludge comparisons of the effects on 30 individual victims, and copies of Corcoran's own recordings of his original rescue operation's findings. [Coincidentally occuring exactly six days before SOS-con for you CON-spiracy theorists out there.]

Also comparisons of the indoctrination procedures used on three different batches, with anecdotal evidence from the presumed "biomod(s) zero."

I've met Tabitha Doe and the Dobbses. We can consider ourselves lucky that these miscreants are obsessed with the end catgirl's "sex slave" potential rather than realizing just how sharp those claws are.

  
\--Boys grow up, usually against their will. I did, and it made me MAD!--

* * *

From: An Anonymous Analyst (fenfront@cia.gov)  
To: Col. Mal Fnord, USSRAF (23@globalfrequency.fen)  
Subj: Ambush Incidents - SECURE DECRYPT ROMEO ABLE SEVEN  
Date Posted: May 19, 2013

\---ENCRYPTED FILE. WORKING... ---  
\--- DECRYPTION SUCCESSFUL ---

  
Sorry this is late; had to do some checking and get an okay.

The *-a attachments are OGJ public deployments for the indicated time period. The *-b ones are the actual orders given, with differences from the -a set highlighted. *-c is our estimate of enemy numbers at that time, color-coded black-green-yellow-red in decreasing order of confidence; the last is statistical projections based on observed actions and spending. 'Responses' tracks the number of incidents, level of opposition, and level of Patrol response involved by mass, number of hulls, and estimated combat power through time from the start of OGJ up till the present. Nagato-san's notes on the SOS-dan meetings preceding your indicated missions are labeled as such.

Points I'd call important: The number and confidence of observed Reaver units drastically increases after the deployment of the sensor packages in August, and has continued to do so at a slower rate ever since. Continuing operations with minimal -apparent- change was judged strategically critical. Ptichka drew the missions she did because she was the fastest 'battlewagon' in service at the time, and was accordingly estimated to have the greatest chance of survival.

On a slightly different note, the files labeled 'wierd trend' are something that's been bouncing back and forth in the cubes at the Farm for a few months now - the readme has the full details on methodology and statistical analysis and such, but the gist of it is that the the decisions taken by individuals and organisations have been growing, for lack of a better phrase, more 'four color' on a systemwide basis ever since the first appearance of handwavium on the world scene.

Haruhi lives in a four-color universe looking out, but I'd invite anyone who thinks that girl isn't a -lot- sharper-eyed than she lets on to play D&D with her some time. It's a revelation. More, there've been a few times - four, at decreasing intervals - where her version turned out to be the right one rather than what'd be logical or greedy like usual.

The last one was the hit on the Wizards, which, you'll recall, -none- of the rest of us saw coming in time to do anything about. She wanted to put Moondance and Squadron 6 on guard there for that week - I talked her out of it.

I was wrong, and she was right.

Mea culpa... but don't say she doesn't listen, and don't say she can't judge.

Haruhi's, AAA

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
"Five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates! Well there ain't no time to wonder why: Whoopee! We're all gonna die!"

\--- ENCRYPTION ENDS ---

* * *

From: Col. Mal Fnord, USSRAF (23@globalfrequency.fen)  
To: An Anonymous Analyst (fenfront@cia.gov)  
Subj: Re: Ambush Incidents - SECURE DECRYPT ROMEO ABLE SEVEN  
Date Posted: May 20, 2013

\---ENCRYPTED FILE. WORKING... ---  
\--- DECRYPTION SUCCESSFUL ---

  
I'll be blunt: I'm not happy. If anything, this information has made me *less* happy. Nagato's notes and the oppositional force estimates in the -c set are precisely the information we were *not* given as part of our forward intelligence. If I had had this data before deployment, Ptichka could have taken out the targets even without fire support; we'd have cannoned up above and beyond the usual outfitting for a strike mission if we'd known that the targets weren't soft. Instead of having three near-misses & a series of desperate fights we could've had three successful kills and actually *hurt* the bastards!

This highlights the central problem. Putting aside Suzumiya's autocratic attitude and management style, or her mysterious sources of information (which worry me, and if they don't worry *you* then you don't deserve what your masters pay you) the fact remains that whatever intelligence Suzumiya gets *isn't forwarded to the field commanders* where it can be put to good use. Keeping up appearances is not an acceptable excuse. We don't have the forces necessary to be able to play those kinds of games. If we're going to be an effective response force - and goddammit we need to be - then the field command needs to know what they're facing. As much fun as I'm sure you're having back at HQ manipulating the data, if more people - if *my* people - die because you're withholding something there *will* be consequences. That's not a threat, that's cast-iron prophecy.

Is there a way out of this mess that doesn't involve us all getting killed by Boskone? I'd like to think so, and I'm willing to discuss it. However, any agreement is going to require full disclosure. Suzumiya and the rest of the SOS-dan need to spill *everything* to their field commanders. What they know, how they know it and what their long-term objectives are. No more secrets between the OGJ command, otherwise this is going to explode *again* and leave us screwed at the wrong time.

Forward that to Suzumiya, see what she says. If she agrees, we'll convene a summit. If not... we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

\--Fnord

\--- ENCRYPTION ENDS ---

* * *

From: Noah Scott (big-cheese@stellvia.lib)  
To: Col. Mal Fnord, USSRAF (23@globalfrequency.fen)  
Subject: Re: I'd like to say you're wrong, but...  
Date Posted: May 20, 2013

> Might be hard to accept, but as long as you're running the system's > equivalent of Nagasaki you're one of the big wheels.

"Nagasaki"? Which historical allusion are you going with here, Mal? (Does that make everybody's favorite pink submarine one of the Black Ships, or should I expect Great Justice to end with my station getting nuked? Either way, I'm not sure I like it... <vbg>)

> Think UN Peacekeepers, only with the teeth the SOS-Con charter gave > OGJ. And if we can produce concrete results, we can keep the funding > rolling in.

I can't help but think "nations defaulting on their UN dues", but that didn't happen to the UN until a few decades after they were founded. You may be onto something here.

> (Speaking of spooks, do you or anybody on your crew have a line on > who's behind AAA? I'm leery of foreign intel people being "helpful" on > open channels, that sort of thing can't possibly end well for our fair > land.)

All I know for sure is that it isn't me or any of my senior staff. Yoriko thinks it might be the captain of a certain Fenship... but I'll tell you more about that on Wednesday.

(BTW, I'll be showing up in costume. "Everybody knows" that Noah Scott doesn't do cosplay, so that'll help throw any shadows off the scent. First round's on me, too.)

\--Noah

* * *

From: An Anonymous Analyst (fenfront@cia.gov)  
To: Col. Mal Fnord, USSRAF (23@globalfrequency.fen)  
Subj: Re: Ambush Incidents - SECURE DECRYPT ROMEO ABLE SEVEN  
Date Posted: May 20, 2013

\---ENCRYPTED FILE. WORKING...---  
\--- DECRYPTION SUCCESSFUL---

  
Oh, is that all?

Haruhi's sources are, in decreasing order of frequency, my people, Nagato, Itsuki's people, and her own bizzaro-planet version of logic (whose reliability I think I've covered already).

The Reavers have intelligence organs of their own - including several active sources on Stellvia. There was no way to keep anything happening on-station from getting out to warn them into altered or increased deployments... including, say, increased armament for a particular ship. We'd been getting around it by shuffling hulls - the datachannels were and remain secure to the best of our ability to determine - but at the time that wasn't an option. Ptichka wasn't the only battlewagon jumped during that period, and a couple of the others they just scattered and hit targets in the surrounding area rather than fight.

For the record: While I can't advocate -full- discosure, I'm willing to agree that our current posture is considerably overboard. Haruhi, AFAIK, has been advocating telling all from the get-go. Nagato doesn't give a damn what -other people- know about her, so long as Haruhi isn't one of them. But Itsuki and Asahina seem to have 'all-costs' secrets of their own, though -she- -has- said that she regards hers as having only personal implications.

Itsuki's concerns seem to be primarily directed at me and mine, make of that what you will.

And... okay, I'm about to -vastly- exceed my authority: Go dig up _Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu_ \- it's an anime that came out about the same time the wave hit. The Farm isn't quite sure -what- to make of it in relation to real life, but at least one of the things mentioned in it has been -confirmed- as real.

And for fuck's sake, don't tell -her- about it. -Whatever- the truth is, that kind of complication's unlikely to do -anyone- any favors.

Yours, AAA

\--- ENCRYPTION ENDS ---

* * *

From: Col. Mal Fnord, USSRAF (23@globalfrequency.fen)  
To: Noah Scott (big-cheese@stellvia.lib)  
Subj: Re: I'd like to say you're wrong, but...  
Date Posted: May 20, 2013

> "Nagasaki"? Which historical allusion are you going with here, Mal?

Luckily we don't have a Perry to deal with... yet. We're also in a bit stronger position than the shogunate.

> I can't help but think "nations defaulting on their UN dues", but that  
> didn't happen to the UN until a few decades after they were founded.  
> You may be onto something here.

Of course I'm onto something. Or maybe just on something. Whichever.

More seriously, the UN model is... a good start for a template, if nothing else. It helps that the primary model would be strictly police/military in the short run; interfaction relations are good, we don't have to worry about things like decolonization, etc.

> All I know for sure is that it isn't me or any of my senior staff.  
> Yoriko thinks it might be the captain of a certain Fenship... but I'll  
> tell you more about that on Wednesday.

A specific fenship, hm? I can think of a dozen or so off the top of my head that I'd consider candidates... I suppose we shall see, though.

\--Mal

* * *

From: Col. Mal Fnord, USSRAF (23@globalfrequency.fen)  
To: An Anonymous Analyst (fenfront@cia.gov)  
Subj: SETEC ASTRONOMY (Was: Re: Ambush Incidents - SECURE DECRYPT ROMEO ABLE SEVEN)  
Date Posted: May 20, 2013

Point One: The fact that you don't seem all that interested in where Nagato or Itsuki get their intelligence doesn't reassure me.

  Subpoint: Also, would you mind explaining in no uncertain terms *why* we should trust your masters with our intelligence-gathering? You *are* after all an agent of a hostile power.

Point Two: If Boskone has sufficient sigint and humint resources aboard Stellvia to intercept sealed orders with force estimates attached, then we might as well give up right now for we are well & truly fucked. I'll also note that Ptichka isn't *based* out of Stellvia.

Point Three: When I said full disclosure, I meant full disclosure. That's not negotiable. If Suzumiya wants to spill the beans but the SOS-dan is reluctant to talk, then I have no problem cutting them out of the loop and dealing with Suzumiya directly. If *they* have a problem with that, then they shouldn't have climbed into the goldfish bowl in the first place.

To use your own metaphor: ante up.

\--Fnord

* * *

From: An Anonymous Analyst (fenfront@cia.gov)  
To: Col. Mal Fnord, USSRAF (23@globalfrequency.fen)  
Subj: Re: SETEC ASTRONOMY  
Date: May 20, 2013

> Point One: The fact that you don't seem all that interested  
> in where Nagato or Itsuki get their intelligence doesn't  
> reassure me.

I -know- where Nagato gets hers, but it's not my place to say. Itsuki's people are concerning but outside the topic at hand.

> You *are* after all an agent of a hostile power.

...

Okay, I'm sorry to have to type this, but stop being a fucking idiot. Why the hell should we -care-? The safety and interests of the United States of America would not be inherently threatened by the existence of a fennish state even if one existed or was likely to in the foreseeable future. They would be and -are- threatened by current Reaver activity and its likely consequences, particularly since a great many fen still hold active US Citizenship.

> Point Two: If Boskone has sufficient sigint and humint  
> resources aboard Stellvia to intercept sealed orders with  
> force estimates attached, then we might as well give up  
> right now for we are well & truly fucked.

Sealed orders? Of course not. That's how we got the PAVEMENT network in place to begin with. Open up-armament of a major combatant is a different matter.

> Point Three: When I said full disclosure, I meant full  
> disclosure. That's not negotiable. If Suzumiya wants to  
> spill the beans but the SOS-dan is reluctant to talk, then I  
> have no problem cutting them out of the loop and dealing  
> with Suzumiya directly. If *they* have a problem with  
> that, then they shouldn't have climbed into the goldfish  
> bowl in the first place.

Let me repeat myself using smaller words. We Mundanes are not the ones you need to convince. Nagato is not the one you need to convince. Suzumiya is not the one you need to convince. Itsuki is the one with problems telling people what they need. Got it? Good.

Now go watch the damned source I pointed you at before you say something that gets us all killed or worse.

> To use your own metaphor: ante up.

Have done.

Pointedly yours, AAA

* * *

From: Col. Mal Fnord, USSRAF (23@globalfrequency.fen)  
To: An Anonymous Analyst (fenfront@cia.gov)  
Subj: Re: SETEC ASTRONOMY  
Date Posted: May 20, 2013

> I -know- where Nagato gets hers, but it's not my place to say.  
> Itsuki's people are concerning but outside the topic at hand.

Outside the topic? You don't know where intelligence is coming from - you don't know if the intelligence is *compromised* - and that's outside the topic?

Jesus. No wonder the CIA's reputation is in the shitter.

> Okay, I'm sorry to have to type this, but stop being a fucking  
> idiot. Why the hell should we -care-? The safety and interests of  
> the United States of America would not be inherently threatened by  
> the existence of a fennish state even if one existed or was likely  
> to in the foreseeable future.

From your government's own National Space Policy, as crafted by President Giuliani's staff and duly signed off on by the Congress: "The United States will oppose the development of new legal regimes or other restrictions that seek to prohibit or limit U.S. access to or use of space."

Who's being the fucking idiot, here? It's pretty clear that the nations (yes, *nations*) in the Solar System represent a restriction of American interests. You may work under the assumption that Boskone is a threat to everybody as a whole, but that doesn't mean you're our buddies. Any romantic delusions you may have to the contrary are just that: delusions.

Your interests are not our interests. Our interests are a long-term threat to your interests. Accept it and move on.

> Let me repeat myself using smaller words. We Mundanes are not the  
> ones you need to convince. Nagato is not the one you need to  
> convince. Suzumiya is not the one you need to convince. Itsuki is the  
> one with problems telling people what they need. Got it? Good.

I thought it was Itsuki and Asahina?

Doesn't matter. The bid is still there. Full. Disclosure. Whatever I know, whatever you know, whatever Suzumiya knows, whatever the other commanders know, whatever Asahina, Itsuki & Nagato know, we *all* know it. No compromises.

> Now go watch the damned source I pointed you at before you say  
> something that gets us all killed or worse.

And what kind of paranoid bullshit is this?

\--Fnord

* * *

From: Col. Mal Fnord, USSRAF (23@globalfrequency.fen)  
To: big-cheese@stellvia.lib, morden-johnson@st-bernie.fen  
Subj: Something's happening here...  
Date Posted: May 20, 2013

\---BEGIN PGP ENCRYPTED MESSAGE---

Gentlemen:

I'm attaching a file with excerpts from correspondence between myself and OGJ's "official" CIA liaison, AAA. It's nothing mission-critical or anything, but something that makes me think there's a big piece of this puzzle we're missing.

To sum up: The inner circles of the SOS-dan all seem to be hiding a secret - or maybe multiple secrets - from their esteemed leader. More to the point, they've gotten AAA in on the act, and AAA seems to be scared stupid that somebody will tell Suzumiya. Tell her *what* I haven't figured out yet. The key seems to be an anime called "Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu", which (AFAICT) came & went the summer before the wave with no real impact or fanbase.

You gentlemen have your own methods of finding things out. I would like to hire you to do some digging. Mail your terms back and we'll make a deal.

\--Fnord

\---END PGP ENCRYPTED MESSAGE---

* * *

From: An Anonymous Analyst (fenfront@cia.gov)  
To: Col. Mal Fnord, USSRAF (23@globalfrequency.fen)  
Subj: Re: SETEC ASTRONOMY  
Date Posted: May 20, 2013

> Outside the topic? You don't know where intelligence is  
> coming from - you don't know if the intelligence is  
> *compromised* - and that's outside the topic?

You mean we're -not- talking about Haruhi and why she is or isn't to be trusted? When'd -that- happen?

> From your government's own National Space Policy, as  
> crafted by President Giuliani's staff and duly signed off on  
> by the Congress:

Circa 2008, allowed to lapse 2010, and anyway superseded by Executive Order 14049 directing Federal responsibilities to citizens residing off terra firma.

> Who's being the fucking idiot, here? It's pretty clear that  
> the nations (yes, *nations*) in the Solar System represent  
> a restriction of American interests.

Because clearly, fleas cause dogs.

> Any romantic delusions you may have to the contrary are just  
> that: delusions.

Amusingly, this is much the same turn of phrase I restrained myself from using in my last missive with regards to fennish nationalism. Regardless of whether your ego demands 'threat' status or not, I and mine have better things to waste our time on than betraying those fighting in our interests. Like indexing laundry lint or something.

If you're determined to be an enemy I suppose I can't stop you, but in your shoes I don't think I'd think it wise.

> I thought it was Itsuki and Asahina?

Asahina has jack-all to do with intelligence gathering. Trust me, I read her mail.

> And what kind of paranoid bullshit is this?

The kind that's worried about the literal end of the universe.

> Doesn't matter. The bid is still there. Full. Disclosure.  
> Whatever I know, whatever you know, whatever Suzumiya  
> knows, whatever the other commanders know, whatever  
> Asahina, Itsuki & Nagato know, we *all* know it. No  
> compromises.

When you die alone and wondering why every girl you ever tried to date hates your guts, I'm going to come to your funeral and laugh.

I started this exchange in hopes of opening up a route to compromise. Without that, the only options left are continued disagreement (wherin I suppose you go off to try and fight your own war) and violence (wherein... well. anything I could say would sound like a threat I'd rather not make). A, B, or C. Up to you.

I've made my try. Good luck, at least personally. I expect you'll need it.

In parting, AAA

* * *

From: Noah Scott (big-cheese@stellvia.lib)  
To: Col. Mal Fnord, USSRAF (23@globalfrequency.fen), morden-johnson@st-bernie.fen  
Subject: Something's happening here...  
Date Posted: May 21, 2013

  
Thanks for the data-dump, Mal; this gives me some badly-needed context.

> Go dig up 'Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu' - it's an anime that came out about the same time the wave hit.

I got Yoriko to review that anime. (There's a manga as well, that goes into a bit more detail.) My first reaction is that I am not happy about Great Justice being run by a bunch of nutbars who believe they're actually the anime characters they biomodded themselves into. I don't mind having a bunch of 'scure-fen running the show; I do mind them running it in accordance with their own essentially-private fandom, which hindsight shows is what they've been doing.

The sooner we establish something else, the better. Hell, with what I know now, I'd rather trust the Bailey Security Service to run Great Justice than leave it to the "SOS-dan", and we all know how little I think of the Baileys.

  
> Jesus. No wonder the CIA's reputation is in the shitter.

Nothing new there, Mal. Here's a joke that's been making the rounds for years (and which I got from a Gaiman fan): How do you know the CIA wasn't involved in the Kennedy assassination? He's dead.

But I can see AAA's point of view. Expecting a spook to open up is ridiculous - they've been trained to clam up as a matter of course.

  
> You gentlemen have your own methods of finding things out. I would like to hire you to do some digging. Mail your terms back and we'll make a deal.

I've got a package that needs to be hidden somewhere in the Solar System where nobody can find it for at least a century and still come through untouched. If you can do that for me, and you don't mind me keeping a copy of whatever I find for you, you'll get my intelligence service for free.

\--Noah

* * *

From: Unexpected AI Irene (irene@utic.fen)  
To: nttp://fen.current-events.disc  
Subject: Re: Politics, Government, Drugs, Really Wild Things  
Date Posted: May 20th, 2013

> If you think you can find them, be my guest. If you're smart, though, you'll stop assuming you can outsneak the pros.

Okay, this is really getting on my nerves.

You're saying, we should stick with a strategy that -isn't really working-, because we're not -professional- enough for you, and just wait for whatever you're doing to pan out?

The hell with that. We could be doing more with the resources they have. It's going to take some effort to work out, but I'm not impressed with suggestions that we shouldn't even try.

I, of course, will have nothing to do with any of it, because I'm stuck on one of the top ten slowest moving pieces of real estate in the fdsking -system-.

IRENE

* * *

' _Point-to-point FTL commuication between Irene aboard_ S. Hofwall's Field _and Morgan aboard **Nanbara's Luck**_  
 **May 21, 2013**

Morgan> Are you sure that was such a good idea?

Irene> Why?

Morgan> Oh, you know, major government agencies in countries I still do business in... no reason.

Irene> You're just too timid.

Morgan> ...

Irene> I'm still not convinced there's any point in listening to what a person like this has to say.

Morgan> Well, that's not really for us to decide.

Irene> Oh, yes. Why couldn't you have awakened me aboard a Haruna-class or something?

Morgan> Where would I get one of those?!

Irene> ...

Irene> Anyway, you'd better make it back here. We've still got contracts to fulfill, and -I'm- obviously not going to be delivering anything.

Morgan> I love you too.

>Morgan has disconnected.

Irene> ...


End file.
